SEC Whistleblower Lawyer Blog
The Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC’) announced on December 5, 2016 that it had awarded a whistleblower approximately $3.5 million for coming forward with information that led to an SEC enforcement action.
The $3.5 million whistleblower award brings the total amount awarded to whistleblowers to $135 million to 36 whistleblowers. In addition to the amount awarded to whistleblower, the SEC has collected over $874 million in financial remedies through enforcement actions brought about by whistleblower tips.
Under the SEC whistleblower program, established by the Dodd-Frank Act in 2011, the SEC is required to ardently protect confidentiality of whistleblowers and cannot disclose information that might indirectly or directly reveal a whistleblower’s identity.
The freedom to blow a whistle on the company is the crux of the whistleblower program. Without the freedom to come forward and disclose information about a bad-acting company, there is no whistleblower program. The SEC takes very seriously instances where a company attempts to silence a whistleblower or retaliates against one.
The whistleblower program offers confidentiality, protection from retaliation, and rewards fraud tipsters for reporting wrongdoing that leads to an SEC enforcement action in which over $1 million in sanctions is ordered. The award can range anywhere from 10 to 30 percent of the sanctions, according to the website.
Scott L. Silver, managing partner of the Silver Law Group, was an early proponent of the legislation and authored a primer on the SEC Whistleblower Program. Our legal team includes former defense attorneys and government prosecutors now working to protect whistleblowers.
Scott L. Silver and David R. Chase are committed to the protection of whistleblowers through the whistleblower claim process and can prosecute your whistleblower claims. If you have questions about your legal rights as a whistleblower, please contact Scott Silver of the Silver Law Group for a free consultation at ssilver@silverlaw.com or toll free at (800) 975-4345.